The spiritual sense of the word yoga first arises in Epic Sanskrit, in the second half of the 1st millennium BCE, and is associated with the philosophical system presented in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, with the chief aim of "uniting" the human spirit with the Divine.[24] The term kriyāyoga has a technical meaning in the Yoga Sutras (2.1), designating the "practical" aspects of the philosophy, i.e. the "union with the supreme" due to performance of duties in everyday life.[25]
^ James Mallinson, "Sāktism and Hathayoga," 28 June 2012. Archived 16 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine [accessed 19 September 2013] pgs. 2 "In its earliest definition, in Pundarīka's eleventh-century Vimalaprabhā commentary on the Kālacakratantra, hathayoga is said to bring about the "unchanging moment" (aksaraksana) "through the practice of nāda by forcefully making the breath enter the central channel and through restraining the bindu of the bodhicitta in the vajra of the lotus of wisdom". While the means employed are not specified, the ends, in particular restraining bindu, semen, and making the breath enter the central channel, are similar to those mentioned in the earliest descriptions of the practices of hathayoga, to which I now turn."
According to Tattvarthasutra, 2nd century CE Jain text, yoga is the sum of all the activities of mind, speech and body.[6] Umasvati calls yoga the cause of "asrava" or karmic influx[172] as well as one of the essentials—samyak caritra—in the path to liberation.[172] In his Niyamasara, Acarya Kundakunda, describes yoga bhakti—devotion to the path to liberation—as the highest form of devotion.[173] Acarya Haribhadra and Acarya Hemacandra mention the five major vows of ascetics and 12 minor vows of laity under yoga. This has led certain Indologists like Prof. Robert J. Zydenbos to call Jainism, essentially, a system of yogic thinking that grew into a full-fledged religion.[174] The five yamas or the constraints of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali bear a resemblance to the five major vows of Jainism, indicating a history of strong cross-fertilization between these traditions.[174][note 16]

Yoga (/ˈjoʊɡə/;[1] Sanskrit: योग; pronunciation) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India. Yoga is one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophical traditions.[2] There is a broad variety of yoga schools, practices, and goals[3] in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.[4][5][6] The term "yoga" in the Western world often denotes a modern form of Hatha yoga, consisting largely of the postures called asanas.

I was diagnosed with autism when I was 7 years old and I have been bullied badly, even out in public. So when I got my membership in March of 2013 I was scared of getting bullied. Been going since then and NOT ONCE have I gotten picked on. The staff doesn’t care. They watch out for me. They greet me with my first name. ‘Hi Jacob, how are you?’ I feel safe and I feel independent. I put on muscle. I LOVE Planet Fitness.